Upper Merion man challenges law banning synthetic marijuana

WEST CHESTER — An Upper Merion man is challenging the state law banning the sale of synthetic marijuana, saying that it is so vague, a common sense reading would confuse people as to what substances are illegal and what are not.

In a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him, Amrish Patel of King of Prussia said that a 2011 law banning the sale of “bath salts” and synthetic marijuana was amended to include a wide range of substances, some which might not fit the type of drug legislators wanted to criminalize.

The law that went into effect in August 2011 includes the term “synthetic cannabinoids” along with other banned substances. But that term, criminal defense attorney Joseph P. Green Jr. of West Chester wrote in Patel’s motion, is “irremediably vague and without content.”

“The version (of the law) enacted is substantially more vague than the version originally proposed,” Green wrote in the motion. “During the legislative process, the term ‘synthetic cannabinoids’ lost all definition and content. In the scientific community, ‘synthetic cannabinoids’ can include many different types of substances, and people of reasonable intelligence have no way of knowing whether any unlisted substance will be considered to be a synthetic cannabinoid.”

Advertisement

The motion said that products, such as over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen, have similar properties to those listed as synthetic cannabinoids in the legislation.

“The Legislature likely could have accomplished its stated objective to prohibit possession of designer marijuana by enacting specific legislation incorporating the available descriptions of the ... types of chemical substitutions that alter the original chemical structure of marijuana,” the motion stated.

Synthetic marijuana, in products known as “Spice,” “K2” and the products Patel is accused of having for sale at his Sadsbury, Chester County convenience store — “Bossman” and “Cloud 9” — came to public attention in 2011 after a series of incidents in which users became ill or emotionally unstable.

Gov. Tom Corbett in March signed the law banning the sale of the manufactured drugs that are readily available in smoke shops and convenience stores, primarily in the eastern part of the state.

Pennsylvania became the fourth state to ban so-called “bath salts” and one of more than a dozen that banned synthetic marijuana.

“These are drugs that were created not only to produce powerful highs but also to skirt Pennsylvania laws,” said Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr., president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, at the time the bill was signed into law.

After Aug. 23, anyone convicted of possession of the designer drugs could be fined as much as $1,000 and sentenced to up to a year in prison. Convicted dealers can be fined up to $15,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Patel was arrested in November 2011, one of the first people in the county to face prosecution for selling synthetic marijuana.

According to an arrest affidavit prepared by East Whiteland officer Patricia Logic, a member of Chester County’s Municipal Drug Task Force and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, authorities received a complaint from the Sadsbury police concerning two men who had purchased the substance known as Cloud 9.

Logic and former Chester County Detective Sal Canzoneri interviewed one of the men Nov. 16 who said he had purchased Cloud 9 from Harry’s Quick Stop in Sadsburyville two days before. He said he had bought the drug from that store previously, but not since the new ban went into effect.

The man said he had to ask for the product by name and that it was not displayed on the counter for sale. He and his cousin, who was with him, smoked the product in the store’s parking lot soon after purchasing it. Within five minutes, he began having chest pains and became disoriented. His cousin called an ambulance and the man was taken to Brandywine Hospital in Caln. He was treated there for substance abuse.

Police searched the Quick Stop, which is owned by Patel and found various amounts of Cloud 9 and Bossman in the store, as well as drug paraphernalia. The two products were tested by the state police Lima Regional laboratory and found to contain synthetic cannabinoids banned under the new law.

Patel, 51, was charged in December 2011 with two counts each of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver. His case is awaiting trial before Judge David Bortner. Green filed the motion to dismiss Jan. 14.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher deBarrena-Sarobe, who is assigned to prosecute the case, declined comment on Patel’s motion.